New Thompson M1A1s in Crates !

[sobo]

Out of curiosity, how do they run? Time was I was very tempted by their SBR Thompson line, but their M1 Carbine offering was one of the biggest POS I've ever had the displeasure of dealing with, and that drove me away. (In fairness, every other commercial M1 Carbine I've had experience was some degree of crap, but the AO was simply beyond atrocious. Went original M1/M2 and never went back.)

Anywho, just curious. Thanks.

I know it's been a week or so, but very good to see you back, CG!

To the question at hand, the Thompson that I have is not made by Auto-Ordnance. They ended their involvement with them in 1999, and Kahr Arms took over.
So, mine is a Kahr Arms product, and I hafta say, it's a beaut! It jammed a bit when it was new, but a few dozen mags through it and that problem is all gone.

What I really like is to compete against anyone with a pistol on the 10-yard dueling tree at my range. I have it figured out that by starting at the top plate and just letting gravity drop the rifle with each shot, I can complete my half of the tree while the pistol-shooter is not even halfway down his. Takes like a ½ second per shot, done in less than 3 seconds. Then I like to piss them off (only if they're my buddies) by shooting all of their plates back over so they have to shoot them again.

The weight is such that there is virtually no recoil, but man, is it ever a heavy rifle, coming in at about 10 lubs...

 

[sobo]

Not like you're gonna make a target half again as dead,LOL

Vintage full-auto, the first ones were 1921's remanufactured with slower Blish lockwork.

Ah, that makes more sense. Yes, the 1928 followed the 1921, with mods like extra weight to the actuator to slow it down. That must be what you mean by the Blish lock.

 

[Diamondback]

At the risk of being pedantic, Numrich sold AO to Kahr asan entire business unit.

 

[sobo]

At the risk of being pedantic, Numrich sold AO to Kahr asan entire business unit.

Not pedantic at all. And I think we agree, that whole switch happened in 1999.

 

[CountryGent]

Thank you both for the details. With companies under the Kahr umbrella I've had really mixed results. Almost anything from Magnum Research was very well made indeed. The one AO/Kahr M1 Carbine, quite literally, wouldn't run through a single entire magazine despite a good deal of effort to remedy said. Could have been a fluke, but from what I've read elsewhere, it was not. Interesting the Thompson worked though.

 

[Aero Denezol]

View attachment 1733808

I, too, was also looking at that one when I was shopping for the T1BSB that I got. But, I went with the earlier model, the one that our boys originally left for Europe with. The M1 and M1A1, with the triangular sight guards, charging handle on the right side, and no Cutts compensator or cooling fins, arrived later in the war. I wanted to go with the "vintage" look. Hence, why I bought the M1927A1 that I pictured a few posts above...

Very interesting. So the M1927A1 was probably used in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.

How long did the SBR process take ordering directly from Kahr and did they charge you up front or on delivery?

The one AO/Kahr M1 Carbine, quite literally, wouldn't run through a single entire magazine despite a good deal of effort to remedy said. Could have been a fluke, but from what I've read elsewhere, it was not.

I've owned several USGI M1 Carbines and all of them were ornery little guns. The weak point of the M1 Carbine are the flimsy magazines, which were meant to be tossed in the field. I would not trust my life to an M1 Carbine. No disrespect intended to anyone who carried them in combat. Those guys were braver and tougher than I'll ever be.

FWIW the AO/Kahr 1911A1 has been great for me.

 

[Diamondback]

Very interesting. So the M1927A1 was probably used in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.

Nope, those would have been 1928A1. The original pre-Numrich '27s are a special case being original 1921s converted to semi-only, all the nuisance of owning a real machinegun with none of the fun.

They were also heavily used in the Pacific... pretty much everywhere up to about '44.

 

[sobo]

Very interesting. So the M1927A1 was probably used in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy.

No, they used the M1928A1, which is the full-auto version of the M1927A1. @Diamondback has it correct (above).
The ETO got the M1 in 1943, and they were issuing the M1A1 by 1944. There was a buncha them around by D-Day...

How long did the SBR process take ordering directly from Kahr and did they charge you up front or on delivery?

It took about a year, all tolled. Ordered from Kahr in February, and got an invoice in early March. I paid the required 20% deposit (I rounded it up to an even $500) in mid-March.

The S/N became available in early July, so my FFL (Ranch & Home) was able to start the Form 1 process then. I paid the remaining balance at that time, which included some extras (horizontal foregrip, screw, etc.) to replace the Al Capone gangsta-style forward pistol grip.

My rifle appeared in my LGS in mid-November, when I was first able to hold it (pic below). My approved Form 1 arrived on December 28 of the same year. So, all inside of one calendar year (not quite 11 months, altogether). So, I'm happy...

 

[CountryGent]

Since it was invoked ....

 

[Diamondback]

No, they used the M1928A1, which is the full-auto version of the M1927A1. @Diamondback has it correct (above).

Only been studying the damn things twenty years...

 

[Aero Denezol]

It took about a year, all tolled. Ordered from Kahr in February, and got an invoice in early March. I paid the required 20% deposit (I rounded it up to an even $500) in mid-March.

The S/N became available in early July, so my FFL (Ranch & Home) was able to start the Form 1 process then. I paid the remaining balance at that time, which included some extras (horizontal foregrip, screw, etc.) to replace the Al Capone gangsta-style forward pistol grip.

My rifle appeared in my LGS in mid-November, when I was first able to hold it (pic below). My approved Form 1 arrived on December 28 of the same year. So, all inside of one calendar year (not quite 11 months, altogether). So, I'm happy...

Thanks for breaking this down. I've only ever built my own SBRs on a Form 1 and I've never had to wait more than a month for a stamp. I am not sure how Measure 114 will affect SBRs which are ordered direct from the mfg.

I looked into the AO Thompson pistol, but these cannot take a stock. I wish they had an option where you could buy a pistol and stock separately and build your own SBR. K-USA does this w/ the Vityaz, it is so much faster to SBR by building it yourself. No idea why but the approvals come through quickly when you roll your own.

 

[CountryGent]

No idea why but the approvals come through quickly when you roll your own.

It is strange. eForm 1s are lightening fast compared to the past, while paper Form 4s are still taking an absolute eternity.